John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
To understand such a statement, we need to understand Jewish culture. In America, when a young couple gets married, they find their own place and start their own lives. In Jewish culture, it was not so. The bridegroom would go and prepare a room for his soon-to-be bride.
During this period, they would be apart as the room was prepared and the bridegroom would come by night to take his bride. When he arrived, she would be watching, waiting and ready to go with her beloved. The bridegroom would take his bride to a wedding feast and they would celebrate the beginning of their marriage.
What does that mean for us? See the grand romance in the Christian narrative. There is a warning, an invitation and then a return. We are living in the midst of the invitation. Many have already accepted but some have rejected the invitation despite the warning, but for those who wait for the return, we live with hope.
What it means for us is that there is something greater than the pleasures of life to live for. Those who ignore the warning and get lost in the convenience and gratification of this life will only find the destination of meaninglessness that is the results of momentary happiness.
What it means for us is that there is a reason to live beyond our own interests. That we are living in an engagement period as we wait for the return of our bridegroom. Life is no longer about what we want for ourselves. Life is no longer devoid of purpose. We are living for someone greater and in this relationship, we are not alone. We have a bridegroom.
What it means is that the bridegroom has changed everything about us and for us. Our ending is not death but eternity. Not only did Jesus redeem death, but He redeemed life. We are waiting, but because of Him, we are alive. No matter the challenge or the moment, we are loved, and we have hope because a day will come when the bridegroom returns, and we will be with Him forever. What it means for us is life changing and despite life’s challenges, we face them knowing who we are living for and who gives us a real reason to live at all.
